How to Get Rid of TMJ at Home Naturally

How to Get Rid of TMJ at Home Naturally

You are faced with a ‘facial’ problem these days. The area in front of your ear aches and you have difficulty opening and closing your mouth, whether it be to speak or chew or yawn. Your ENT specialist has checked your ears and informed you that he did not find any problem there. In all probability, what you are experiencing is a problem connected with your jawbone, medically known as Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome or TMJ in short. While in some cases it may be severe and surgery may be recommended for replacing the jaw joint, there is every possibility that TMJ may disappear on its own, but in the meantime, you can commence on a Natural Therapy programme to quicken the process of getting rid of this condition. In this method, you will make use of natural methods and substances, to bring about relief.

A person suffering from TMJ can experience migraines or giddiness on account of overstretching of the jaw joints and facial muscles. The spasmodic pain which originates in the area in front of the ear, often radiates into the shoulders and neck. Ringing in the ear or a feeling of the ear being clogged are other symptoms. There may be swelling around the jaw joints, with difficulty in swallowing and a feeling that the upper and lower teeth are not fitting correctly as they used to. The jaw may not open properly and there may be a grating sound at every movement of the jaw.

Causes:

Grinding one’s teeth on a regular basis, either voluntarily while awake or involuntarily during sleep,can result in TMJ. Also clenching the jaws, either due to stress or by force of habit, can put pressure on the jawbone, causing TMJ. Arthritis either due to the normal ageing process, or due to degenerative joint disease, can also be responsible for TMJ in some cases. Injury of the jaw bone due to trauma is another reason why a person can suffer from TMJ.

Treatment:

Most instances of TMJ will heal on their own during the periods of rest which the jaws receive on account of difficulty in opening the mouth. While the doctor will normally prescribe pain-killers to relieve the discomfort caused by TMJ, these cannot be taken over a long period of time due to their adverse side effects. Hence, it is best to go for Natural methods to cure this condition.

Use ice packs externally on the jaw bone to relieve the pain. The ice should be wrapped in a cloth before placing over the skin. This can be done for 5-10 minutes at a time, at regular intervals. It will give relief from pain.

Arrange for only soft foods while the condition lasts, or have the food mashed thoroughly, so that the jaws need not be exercised too much.

A few stretching exercises will help reset the jawbones correctly :-

Stretch the mouth as widely as possible to one side. Close it and then stretch to the other side as much as possible. Do this several times during the day without causing much pain to the jaws.

Open the mouth as straight as possible without causing pain to the muscles.

Close it as straight as you can so that the upper teeth rest correctly over the lower ones. Do this 10 times, take a break and repeat, doing 3-4 sets per day, till the muscles gain strength and you are able to do the exercise without any difficulty.